Article

• Introduction

  Over the past fifteen years most advanced education programmes within Schools of Architecture have been questioning the parameters and requirements of doctoral research both in terms of content and form. This double issue of Footprint was motivated by the question of where the field stands today. Footprint 10|11 presents nine contributions from both recently defended and developing PhD candidates from a variety of institutions. The diversity of their work, as well as the similarities found in the submissions, offers a partial view into research topics currently addressed in PhD programmes within Schools of Architecture. 

  In addition to the nine papers by PhD researchers, we have included a paper by Andrew Leach that we believe provides an overview of the general state of contemporary architecture research. Leach makes an appeal to refrain from making all research operational. At a time when the application of research and its economic value seem to form the primary criteria for judging value, this appeal should not be taken lightly.

  Over the past fifteen years most advanced education programmes within Schools of Architecture have been questioning the parameters and requirements of doctoral research both in terms of content and form. This double issue of Footprint was motivated by the question of where the field stands today. Footprint 10|11 presents nine contributions from both recently defended and developing PhD candidates from a variety of institutions. The diversity of their work, as well as the similarities found in the submissions, offers a partial view into research topics currently addressed in PhD programmes within Schools of Architecture. 

  In addition to the nine papers by PhD researchers, we have included a paper by Andrew Leach that we believe provides an overview of the general state of contemporary architecture research. Leach makes an appeal to refrain from making all research operational. At a time when the application of research and its economic value seem to...

  Over the past fifteen years most advanced education programmes within Schools of Architecture have been questioning the parameters and requirements of doctoral research both in terms of content and form. This double issue of Footprint was motivated by the question of where the field...

  Deborah Hauptmann, Lara Schrijver

  1-4

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• Inventory

  What is the value, now, in conducting historical research into architectural ideas? The paper addresses the function of contemporary PhD research in light of a) the so-called historiographical turn in architectural history, theory and criticism research consolidated in the last decade or so; b) the broader positions in which critical and historical knowledge and practices are implicated within present-day architectural culture; and c) the particular circumstances of PhD research in architecture in Australian universities.

  It revisits a paper written in 2005 that constructs the PhD in architecture as a space of authorized release from the burdens of habitual knowledge within the architecture discipline, accountable both to disciplinary knowledge and a broader architectural culture represented most obviously by the architecture profession. In light of the positions it explores and contemporary circumstances, it will consider the question of how legitimacy of subject is construed and defended for the doctorate in architectural history.

  What is the value, now, in conducting historical research into architectural ideas? The paper addresses the function of contemporary PhD research in light of a) the so-called historiographical turn in architectural history, theory and criticism research consolidated in the last decade or so; b) the broader positions in which critical and historical knowledge and practices are implicated within present-day architectural culture; and c) the particular circumstances of PhD research in architecture in Australian universities.

  It revisits a paper written in 2005 that constructs the PhD in architecture as a space of authorized release from the burdens of habitual knowledge within the architecture discipline, accountable both to disciplinary knowledge and a broader architectural culture represented most obviously by the architecture profession. In light of the positions it explores and contemporary circumstances, it will consider the question of how legitimacy of subject is...

  What is the value, now, in conducting historical research into architectural ideas? The paper addresses the function of contemporary PhD research in light of a) the so-called historiographical turn in architectural history, theory and criticism research consolidated in the last decade or so;...

  Andrew Leach

  5-14

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• You are Hungry: Flâneuring, Edible Mapping and Feeding Imaginations

  The idea of growing food in cities, often termed urban agriculture (UA), is rapidly becoming a popular concept linked to ideas of sustainable cities. However, for most residents it is a difficult concept to visualize due to the complexity of the built environment. This research uses 32 participatory walks with 150 local residents around a 25-hectare site within east London to explore reactions to the idea of potential UA landscapes. 

  The starting point for walks was the ‘edible map’. The edible map is a hand-drawn A2 map of the site that filled the many vacant and grassed areas, common to cities, with food growing suggestions. The map was presented to walkers as a provocation to stimulate discussion. The 32 participatory walks produce an initial engagement with the concept of UA and the need for local food systems but also produced a strong critique of urban spatial design and the desire to place-make.

  Exploring how these desires interact needs to be further understood because potentially the latter could dominate the former. Therefore, institutions that advocate UA need to be mindful of the interactions between spatial engagements and food-growing practices that may compromise the vital need for local food production at the core of the UA concept.

  The idea of growing food in cities, often termed urban agriculture (UA), is rapidly becoming a popular concept linked to ideas of sustainable cities. However, for most residents it is a difficult concept to visualize due to the complexity of the built environment. This research uses 32 participatory walks with 150 local residents around a 25-hectare site within east London to explore reactions to the idea of potential UA landscapes. 

  The starting point for walks was the ‘edible map’. The edible map is a hand-drawn A2 map of the site that filled the many vacant and grassed areas, common to cities, with food growing suggestions. The map was presented to walkers as a provocation to stimulate discussion. The 32 participatory walks produce an initial engagement with the concept of UA and the need for local food systems but also produced a strong critique of urban spatial design and the desire to place-make.

  Exploring how these desires interact needs to be further...

  The idea of growing food in cities, often termed urban agriculture (UA), is rapidly becoming a popular concept linked to ideas of sustainable cities. However, for most residents it is a difficult concept to visualize due to the complexity of the built environment. This research uses 32...

  Mikey Tomkins

  15-36

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• Haecceity, Drawing and Mapping

  Haecceity or ‘thisness’ is a philosophical concept that relates to architectural drawing in the sense that a haecceity is something that becomes individual from having been undifferentiated. Haecceities lie at the heart of many interlinking, dynamic processes of ethics, art, instinct, intelligence and life. Haecceities open up for an understanding of architectural drawing distinct from ‘merely’ representing built or buildable architectural space, being rather a method of both acting and thinking.

  That the architectural drawing represents building and space is inherent, but, for the same reason, the architectural drawing’s power to produce space and buildings is sometimes diminished. This capacity of drawing, along with analogue and digital drawing tools and analogue and digital notational systems, is discussed in the paper, aiming to break down the usual ideas of architectural drawing, the digital and the analogue, and to build up a research method to create thoughts and worlds.

  Haecceity or ‘thisness’ is a philosophical concept that relates to architectural drawing in the sense that a haecceity is something that becomes individual from having been undifferentiated. Haecceities lie at the heart of many interlinking, dynamic processes of ethics, art, instinct, intelligence and life. Haecceities open up for an understanding of architectural drawing distinct from ‘merely’ representing built or buildable architectural space, being rather a method of both acting and thinking.

  That the architectural drawing represents building and space is inherent, but, for the same reason, the architectural drawing’s power to produce space and buildings is sometimes diminished. This capacity of drawing, along with analogue and digital drawing tools and analogue and digital notational systems, is discussed in the paper, aiming to break down the usual ideas of architectural drawing, the digital and the analogue, and...

  Haecceity or ‘thisness’ is a philosophical concept that relates to architectural drawing in the sense that a haecceity is something that becomes individual from having been undifferentiated. Haecceities lie at the heart of many interlinking, dynamic processes of ethics, art,...

  Anne Katrine Hougaard

  37-58

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• Bridging: The Spatial Construction of Knowledge in Architectural Research

  This contribution proposes an interdisciplinary approach to architectural research, and states that composition is a methodological act of research. It will first argue that architectural research and practice can gain from a multi-perspectival approach, bringing in knowledge from different fields – in this case the field of literature.

  Referring to the author’s recently finished dissertation, it proposes a literary approach to architecture and the city, and explains how the ambiguities of architecture (subject-object, author-user and reality-fiction) can be addressed by literary means. Then, it makes clear that bringing together knowledge from different fields requires an act of composition. It argues that knowledge can be seen as a spatial construction rather than a linear one, and that the mediating capacity of the architect offers researchers with a background in architecture the possibility to develop such spatial research compositions.

  This contribution proposes an interdisciplinary approach to architectural research, and states that composition is a methodological act of research. It will first argue that architectural research and practice can gain from a multi-perspectival approach, bringing in knowledge from different fields – in this case the field of literature.

  Referring to the author’s recently finished dissertation, it proposes a literary approach to architecture and the city, and explains how the ambiguities of architecture (subject-object, author-user and reality-fiction) can be addressed by literary means. Then, it makes clear that bringing together knowledge from different fields requires an act of composition. It argues that knowledge can be seen as a spatial construction rather than a linear one, and that the mediating capacity of the architect offers researchers with a background in architecture the possibility to develop such spatial research compositions.

  This contribution proposes an interdisciplinary approach to architectural research, and states that composition is a methodological act of research. It will first argue that architectural research and practice can gain from a multi-perspectival approach, bringing in knowledge from different...

  Klaske Havik

  59-68

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• An Antipodean Imaginary for Architecture+Philosophy: Ficto-Critical Approaches to Design Practice Research

  This is a collaborative essay that presents the design practice research of six postgraduate researchers (past and present), who have been working within the Architecture+Philosophy research stream at the School of Architecture, RMIT University, Melbourne. What unites the projects is an aspiration to maintain a creative relationship between architectural design project research and critical theory, with an emphasis on transdisciplinary potentialities.

  While the design research introduced here is diverse, the researchers all share an engagement in how to construct imaginary worlds using what can be identified as a ficto-critical approach that draws on the productive intersection of architecture and philosophy. Hélène Frichot, who will situate this research from her position as their primary doctoral advisor, argues that by pursuing a productive relay between theory and practice a novel Antipodean design imaginary can be seen to emerge across the collected projects.

  This is a collaborative essay that presents the design practice research of six postgraduate researchers (past and present), who have been working within the Architecture+Philosophy research stream at the School of Architecture, RMIT University, Melbourne. What unites the projects is an aspiration to maintain a creative relationship between architectural design project research and critical theory, with an emphasis on transdisciplinary potentialities.

  While the design research introduced here is diverse, the researchers all share an engagement in how to construct imaginary worlds using what can be identified as a ficto-critical approach that draws on the productive intersection of architecture and philosophy. Hélène Frichot, who will situate this research from her position as their primary doctoral advisor, argues that by pursuing a productive relay between theory and practice a novel Antipodean design imaginary can be seen to emerge across the collected projects.

  This is a collaborative essay that presents the design practice research of six postgraduate researchers (past and present), who have been working within the Architecture+Philosophy research stream at the School of Architecture, RMIT University, Melbourne. What unites the projects is an...

  Hélène Frichot; Julieanna Preston, Michael Spooner, Sean Pickersgill, Zuzana Kovar, Ceri Hann, Megg Evans

  69-96

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• Science for Architecture: Designing Architectural Research in Post-War Sweden

  How did architectural research in Sweden become scientific in its approach rather than artistic, as architecture education in the post-war period was primarily influenced by the Bauhaus pedagogy?
Via the American Bauhaus pedagogical developments taking place at the IIT and the GSD, Swedish architecture education adopted the artistic ‘learning by doing’ approach.

  The most interesting structure signifying this was a permanent exhibition of building materials located in the foreground of the 1957 KTH architecture school. When the new KTH architecture school was completed its architecture illustrated another image: that of the new architecture curriculum, A68, put into practice the same year as the building was designed. 
A68 reorganized architecture education and put more focus on environmental studies and building function analysis.

  The new curriculum included the subjects Formlära, Design Principles, and Byggnadsfunktionslära, Building Function Analysis, which were technical in their approach of using empirical research. As a result, the 1969 KTH architecture building included a laboratory for testing technical problems in air-conditioned spaces as well as a laboratory for testing acoustics. The 1961 LTH architecture building included a full-scale-laboratory where studies were directed by Carin Boalt, the first female professor at a technical university.

  How did architectural research in Sweden become scientific in its approach rather than artistic, as architecture education in the post-war period was primarily influenced by the Bauhaus pedagogy?
Via the American Bauhaus pedagogical developments taking place at the IIT and the GSD, Swedish architecture education adopted the artistic ‘learning by doing’ approach.

  The most interesting structure signifying this was a permanent exhibition of building materials located in the foreground of the 1957 KTH architecture school. When the new KTH architecture school was completed its architecture illustrated another image: that of the new architecture curriculum, A68, put into practice the same year as the building was designed. 
A68 reorganized architecture education and put more focus on environmental studies and building function analysis.

  The new curriculum included the subjects Formlära, Design Principles, and Byggnadsfunktionslära, Building...

  How did architectural research in Sweden become scientific in its approach rather than artistic, as architecture education in the post-war period was primarily influenced by the Bauhaus pedagogy?
Via the American Bauhaus pedagogical developments taking place at the IIT and the GSD, Swedish...

  Frida Rosenberg

  97-112

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• John Hejduk’s Pursuit of an Architectural Ethos

  Reflected, artistic practices and design-based research are drastically expanding fields within architectural academia. However, the interest in uniting theory and practice is not entirely new. Just a few decades ago, before a ‘death of theory’ was proclaimed, questions of architectural epistemology, of the language(s) of architecture, were indeed of profound interest to the discipline.

  This essay returns to and examines the investigatory practices of John Hejduk in an attempt to identify a poetic method asserting difference through repetition and primarily grounded in the medium of architectural drawing; a method which, when approached on a more general and conceptual level, might even have the potential to inform design-based architectural research today. The author argues that the conceptual framework of such a method is not a theoretical pursuit of logos, but more a matter of character – an embracing pursuit of an architectural ethos.

  Reflected, artistic practices and design-based research are drastically expanding fields within architectural academia. However, the interest in uniting theory and practice is not entirely new. Just a few decades ago, before a ‘death of theory’ was proclaimed, questions of architectural epistemology, of the language(s) of architecture, were indeed of profound interest to the discipline.

  This essay returns to and examines the investigatory practices of John Hejduk in an attempt to identify a poetic method asserting difference through repetition and primarily grounded in the medium of architectural drawing; a method which, when approached on a more general and conceptual level, might even have the potential to inform design-based architectural research today. The author argues that the conceptual framework of such a method is not a theoretical pursuit of logos, but more a matter of character – an embracing pursuit of an architectural ethos.

  Reflected, artistic practices and design-based research are drastically expanding fields within architectural academia. However, the interest in uniting theory and practice is not entirely new. Just a few decades ago, before a ‘death of theory’ was proclaimed, questions of architectural...

  Martin Søberg

  113-128

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• Architecture’s Awaking from Correlationist Slumber: On Transdisciplinarity and Disciplinary Specificity

  Perception cannot be considered independently of the environment since it is defined as an evolved adaptive and constructive relation between the life-form and its milieu. Unfortunately, experimental psychology research has relied overwhelmingly on object perception, rather than environment perception, with the findings of the former providing the basis for understanding the latter.

  Architectural research continues to suffer from this fallacy. Furthermore, to separate the ‘cultural’ from the ‘natural’ environment – as if there were a world of mental and a world of material products – is a fatal mistake. There is only one world. The paper explores J.J. Gibson’s unwitting affiliation with Deleuze. The most notable point of convergence between the two thinkers is their more or less overt theory of ‘passive synthesis’ of perception with which they vehemently oppose, or better yet complement, the active synthesis of representation.

  Perception cannot be considered independently of the environment since it is defined as an evolved adaptive and constructive relation between the life-form and its milieu. Unfortunately, experimental psychology research has relied overwhelmingly on object perception, rather than environment perception, with the findings of the former providing the basis for understanding the latter.

  Architectural research continues to suffer from this fallacy. Furthermore, to separate the ‘cultural’ from the ‘natural’ environment – as if there were a world of mental and a world of material products – is a fatal mistake. There is only one world. The paper explores J.J. Gibson’s unwitting affiliation with Deleuze. The most notable point of convergence between the two thinkers is their more or less overt theory of ‘passive synthesis’ of perception with which they vehemently oppose, or better yet complement, the active synthesis of representation.

  Perception cannot be considered independently of the environment since it is defined as an evolved adaptive and constructive relation between the life-form and its milieu. Unfortunately, experimental psychology research has relied overwhelmingly on object perception, rather...

  Andrej Radman

  129-142

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• The Tradition of Spatial Writing: The Case of the Palindrome in between Literature and Architecture

  In this work I define as spatial writing a kind of writing that could be expressed spatially in text and textually in architecture and that includes examples from both text and buildings. In that sense spatial writing is related not only to literary theory but also to architecture, architectural writing or ‘architecture writing’. 

  In the first part of my paper I outline very briefly the tradition of spatial writing in literary theory, but the main focus is on how text is treated spatially and architecturally within such a theory. 

  In the second part I focus on the palindrome as a specific kind of spatial writing and examine how its geometric poetic form stands in between the disciplines of literature and architecture. From the two examples I study the first is taken from literature and is a palindromic poetic composition from a 1745 pamphlet entitled Coelum Orbis Teutonici, and the second from architecture and looks at palindrome’s use as inscriptions at fountains and thresholds.

  In this work I define as spatial writing a kind of writing that could be expressed spatially in text and textually in architecture and that includes examples from both text and buildings. In that sense spatial writing is related not only to literary theory but also to architecture, architectural writing or ‘architecture writing’. 

  In the first part of my paper I outline very briefly the tradition of spatial writing in literary theory, but the main focus is on how text is treated spatially and architecturally within such a theory. 

  In the second part I focus on the palindrome as a specific kind of spatial writing and examine how its geometric poetic form stands in between the disciplines of literature and architecture. From the two examples I study the first is taken from literature and is a palindromic poetic composition from a 1745 pamphlet entitled Coelum Orbis Teutonici, and the second from architecture...

  In this work I define as spatial writing a kind of writing that could be expressed spatially in text and textually in architecture and that includes examples from both text and buildings. In that sense spatial writing is related not only to literary theory but also to...

  Sotirios Varsamis

  143-164

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• Thesis-Building: Architecture, Alchemy and the Constructive Moment(s) of a Doctoral Dissertation

  This paper looks back at the long and sometimes difficult process of doing a ‘PhD’. It asks how certain ‘moments’ in the building of a doctoral thesis – moments of conception, of discovery, of despair, of truth, of revelation and of jouissance – inform the building of a thesis. By revisiting these moments, the paper traces the genesis of the author’s thesis on Architecture and Alchemy and explores the metaphor of construction encountered in the work of cultural theorist Walter Benjamin.

  Drawing on some of the historical sources of the thesis, in particular the emblem books of seventeenth-century alchemist Michael Maier (1568-1622), the paper argues that the above-named ‘moments’ in a PhD constitute an ensemble of impassioned investment, which can be known as the PhD-pathos. This paper, then, can be read as no more, or less, than a pathological guide to the PhD, where architecture and alchemy come into play as polar opposites in the process of construction and change that thesis-building is.

  This paper looks back at the long and sometimes difficult process of doing a ‘PhD’. It asks how certain ‘moments’ in the building of a doctoral thesis – moments of conception, of discovery, of despair, of truth, of revelation and of jouissance – inform the building of a thesis. By revisiting these moments, the paper traces the genesis of the author’s thesis on Architecture and Alchemy and explores the metaphor of construction encountered in the work of cultural theorist Walter Benjamin.

  Drawing on some of the historical sources of the thesis, in particular the emblem books of seventeenth-century alchemist Michael Maier (1568-1622), the paper argues that the above-named ‘moments’ in a PhD constitute an ensemble of impassioned investment, which can be known as the PhD-pathos. This paper, then, can be read as no more, or less, than a pathological guide to the PhD, where architecture and alchemy come into play as polar opposites in the...

  This paper looks back at the long and sometimes difficult process of doing a ‘PhD’. It asks how certain ‘moments’ in the building of a doctoral thesis – moments of conception, of discovery, of despair, of truth, of revelation and of jouissance – inform the building of a...

  Willem de Bruijn

  165-181

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